Screw driver



G. WOOD scnnw DRIVER \May 3 9 Filed sept. 2. 1924 Puendlny" 3, v`

erinnert. woon, or warm. f

The present `inventiim relates toy screw driversand its object is to.provide afscrew driver with means'for holding or gripping ascrew beforeand while being driven, or` after retraction from the place in which ithad been previously set. further object is to provide a screw'holdingequipment for screw Vdriversofsimple character and c onsisting of fewparts' and those such as can be made and assembled atsmall cost and canbe easily manipulated to grip and release the screw.

In the draw ings,--4 Y Figure l is a perspective view of a. screw driverembodying the prelferred form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a. 'longitudinal section of the parts of theA screw driverin which the invention is particularly embodied.

Figure 3 is a 4cross section on' line 3 3 of F igure 2 drawn on anenlarged scale.

LikeV reference characters designate the same parts in all the figures.

The screw,driver comprises a 'shank a to which a handle b may beattached, the end of the shank being flattened o1' cut away at the sidesto form a blade c adapted to enter the slot of a screw, as shown inFigure 2, where the screw is shown at d indotted lines. The shank andblade may have any of the forms common in screw drivers, but

I prefer to make the blade with a shorter.

taper than usual, continuing the shank to its full diameter or thicknessnearly to the outer end; in othervvwerds, to draw down the blade portionwith a shorter and mo're abrupt taper than in the usual practice in'order to leave stock for mounting and housgrpper and to Strengthen theblade. p

In the shank there is cut or otherwise formed a. slot e at right anglesto the central.

plane of the blade, or nearly so, intersecting the blade and extendingback therefrom for a suitable distance. In'this slot is located a piecef, which, for the convenience of this description, I call a screwgripper. It is a thin, flat piece of steel, or other suitable material,of a thickness which adapts it to fit closely but not tightly in theslot, that is, it is movable freely in the slot, but

without too great looseness. The outer end ofvthis gripper runs to theouter end of the blade, and its outline is like the cross sec:

tion of the blade in order that it may, sub stantially coincide with theopposite :sides Anuman am .sptembe'r ai, 11m. serial, l. naar.

its lower or innerf approximately` holding groove.

of the hladewhen notl'perfonin its ping function. This gripperis gnpedge which comes next to thebottom of the slot with an angle or on ashoulder h infthe and serves asa fulcrum aboutnwhicli thepladenayt'lrock. asil on "a pivot. It is also orme w1 1a ta' ieee fl'ilmthe blade. ru'nmng back he upper or outer edge of the 'ri r opposite tothe fulcruin angle pro'etspgiit of the slot, and there provideclwith anotch or equivalent opening, and an encircling groove 1s formed in theexterior of the shank; such notch and groove being adapted to receive aretaining ring j, and bein in the same planewith the fulcrum g. hisretaining ring is conven- 1lently made of .wire lient into a. circle ofsuch diameter that it can be sprung. over the end of the shank and willsnap intol the xforming the ring may then bent into a ormed on that vis,theedge irotuberance g `which rests Vbottom of the slot The ends of the'wire socket k in the Aside of the^shank for `the double purpose ofpreventing the ringffrom' sllppmg around on the shank and of puttlng thecut ends of the wire out of the way where they will not/be liable tocatch on anything. It will thus be seen :that the r1ng 1s a resilientlock which holds the grip'- per 1n place, resiliently holding itsfulcrum projection against the complemental abutment shoulder andendwise Vmovement of direction.

`lhat part tm. of the upper edge of the gr1pper which runs from theretainingrring to the end of the tail-piece projects out of the slotadjacent to the ring` hat it always is within the slot at the other end.It is the gripper in either positively preventingarranged on an inclineor taper with 'respect to the adjacent surface of the shank and servesas a cam, as. will'presently be describeds x A spring l situated in theslot underneath the tail-piece Vbearson the'lattereand tends to force itoutofthe slot-'but the outer end part of the gripper, comingto bearonth/e bottom of the .slot in front-f of the retaining r1ng,'l1m1tsth1smovement so that the tailpiece is always within the slot, or at least.far enough Within it to permit the operating sleeve n to pass over it.The spring l .is conveniently made froml a piece `of spring `wire bentdouble and .of such dimensions that it will lie iiithe slot,substantiall -as shown in Figure'p2withthe effect as a ve described.`

The operating sleeve'- n above mentioned is a sleeve which surroundstheshank and 'is adapted to slidefreely thereon. It is shorter than thedistance` between the.' grip per and the handle l), or' atleast shortenough so that when moved as far as possible toward the handle, it willleave thegripper free to be placed by its spring in` the position whereitsonter or frontend registers with the blade. In this condition I thebladeifiay be entered into theslot of a screw. I .V Y

In order to grip the screw which has thus I been engaged by the screwdriver, the user slides the operating sleeve toward the blade.

The advancing end of the sleeve n bearsson the 'cam surface fm, andcrowds the tail of the gripperfinto the slot,l thus causing' the outerend .ofthe gripper". to swing outward from the blade and to press on onewall of .on the other hand, on account of the long and gradual inclineof the Acam surface m. Thus the screw can be firmly held by the screwdriverj and the latter may be used 'to place and drive a screw in anotherwise inaccessible position and to remove a screw from such aposition. This connect-ion between the tool and the screw is ofadvantage also in many other situations.

In the :forefroiiior descri tion I have used b b C 7.7 the words outerand I front to designate position at, near or toward the blade and away.from the handle end of 'the screw.

driver. I have used the Words lower and upper and words ofsiinilaiimportjto des- -ignate the relation ofthe gripper to its con`taining slot, that is, whether near the bottom or the opening oftheslot, and without any reference to the relationnof'theseparts to` thesurface of the earth.

Various modifications and reversals of the scope of the appendedclaims'. For instance it iswithin my contemplation to connect thegripper to the shank by nieans of a pivot pin instead of by the specificpivotal connection here shown, to forni the tail of the gripper as aspring performing the functions of the spring l, and to rearrangethe-*pivot mounting ofzthe gripperin such fashion with `respect to thespring that the spring signature. will cause the gripper to grasp thescrew and ttlie operating sleeve be employed to release .Iii-thisspecification,` as fwill have. been already apparent, thef terms ipped,

gripper and grasp are used witl a mean- Aing-which includes a.spreadingvmotion of the grip ingelements//within the,v member ip. Inother q"words these words are to construed for 'the u ses ofthis`invention in.conformitynwit i t e il- 'listration in the drawin Theparticular embodiment of the invention herein shown involves a minimumIof complexity yin construction and loperation and a minimum-in costwofproduction. The pnly essential modification fin the structure of thescrew drivershai'ik itself, in comparison with the ordinary screwdriver, is the formation of the slot e. `The Aadditional parts are vonlythree in number and those are of simple construction capable ofassembly..` the sleeveover the shank,

byv first placin then placing ,t e grippe'r'in the slot, and finallysnapping the retainingring over the shank and gripper. The final step ofbending in the ends of the ring is a useful -butI non essentialrefinement.l

I-Vhat I claim and-desire to secure by Letters :Patent is:

1.- A gripping screw driver,l com lrising a wshank having a blade at oneend an a lon itudinal slot in rone side intersectin t e blade, a gripperpiece fitted in said sIot to have a rocking engagement with the bottom'of th'e slot and formed at its outer end to said gripper for moving itsouter end lat erally from theblade to grip a screw, into the slot ofwhich said blade is entered.

2. A gripping screw driver wniprising a shank reduced in one end to forma screw driver blade and having in one side a groove transverse 4to suchblade, which groove extends to the extremity of and subdivides theblade, a gripper piece Ifitted freely in .said groove and having aprojection on its. inner Y .edge adapted to bear against and rock onseveral parts of this apparatus may be iliade within the spirit of` myinvention and theto the outline of the blade in cross section andladapted to coincide therewith, a band surrounding said shank andinterlocked with the gripper approxiiiately in the same plane with saidfulcruinprojection,- and means tion.

In testimony whereof I have aixed my /GLEASON woon.

.foi-rocking the gripper'about said projecy

